Owl
Page 17
As Tod began talking about the polytech course he hoped to do, the one that combined guiding skills with adventure tourism, Hamish buried his head comfortably on his arms and closed his eyes. His limbs felt disembodied and boneless now, as if they’d melted into the ground. His mind emptied of all thought. The conversation became a distant murmur as he drifted into sleep.
Tod woke him when the sun started to go down and the air grew cool. ‘Time to go,’ he said. ‘Before the snow freezes and the slope turns to ice.’
Without hurrying, they repacked their gear and tightened their boots. As they lingered, loath to summon the effort to start down the mountain, Hamish looked briefly back up to the top. Still sunlit, the summit rocks held no threats now. He turned to put his pack on, picked up his pole. ‘What are we waiting for?’ he said.
‘Follow me!’ Tod began to run down the ridge, leaning back on his ice axe as a third leg. Snow spurted under his feet as he gathered speed. Kirsten took off after him, taking giant leaps down the slope.
‘Awesome!’ said Hamish. He looked at Tama. ‘You game?’
‘You bet!’ said Tama. ‘Wanna try and stop me?’
They plunged down the slope, leaning back on their poles. Cautiously at first, then faster and faster as their confidence grew. Following Tod’s line, Hamish zigzagged back and forth across the slope. Tama kept pace with him. Soon the four of them were speeding down the mountain, like skiers carving tracks on powder snow. Their whoops of triumph echoed off the slopes opposite. Down the mountain they sped, racing towards the world that waited for them far below.
≈ EPILOGUE
THE AFTERNOON before they left The Pinnacles to go back to school, Hamish and the others made their way up the tussock slopes to the rock face below the Seven Sentinels. One last thing remained to be done.
Using the harness and belay system they’d set up earlier, Tod and Kirsten helped Tama climb the face to the rock shelter. There, the four of them gathered on the dusty rubble-covered floor. There was no need to speak. Hamish checked the contents of the old canvas soccer bag he’d brought with him. When he was satisfied, he nodded to Tama, and hoisted himself up onto the scaffolding. Tama followed him.
There, in the shallow niche below the patterns drawn on the rock, beside the bundle of ancient flax matting that held Ruru’s pouch of drawing materials, Hamish stowed his bag. In it were his photos of the rock drawings, every print and negative. Tama placed the oval stone kaitiaki on top and the long flight feather Kirsten had found. He sang softly, a few phrases of the song of mourning that Hamish knew he would never forget. When Tama finished, they crouched there a moment longer. They looked for the last time at the patterns Ruru had drawn on the rock. For the last time they heard in their minds the words of the legend the patterns told.
And then it was over. By the time they’d dismantled the scaffolding and the climbing gear, and were once more standing at the foot of the rock face, the sun was sinking fast. They turned to leave. Below them, the last rays of the sun gilded the roofs of the farm buildings. As they watched, the shadows from the Seven Sentinels travelled across the basin. They enfolded the old farmhouse and faded it into the dusk. Beyond the mountains to the east, Hamish saw the first stars prick. Beside them, a new moon hung in the sky.
About the Author
JOANNA ORWIN has written four novels for children and young adults, and a picture book for children. Short-listed three times for the Children’s Book of the Year Award, she won the award in 1986 for her novel The Guardian of the Land. Joanna has worked as a botanist, a science editor, a freelance oral historian, and a consultant non-fiction writer for organisations such as the Forest Research Institute, Department of Conservation, Landcare Research and Te Papa.
She is recognised for her accurate portrayal of Maori culture and history in her novels.
Joanna lives in Christchurch and has a grown-up family of three.
Also by Joanna Orwin
Ihaka and the Summer Wandering, 1982
Ihaka and the Prophecy, 1984
The Guardian of the Land, 1985
Watcher in the Forest, 1987
The Tar Dragon, 1997
Copyright
This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without the written permission of Longacre Press and the author.
Joanna Orwin asserts her moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
© Joanna Orwin
ISBN 9781775532408
First published by Longacre Press 2001
9 Dowling Street, Dunedin, New Zealand
Book and cover design by Christine Buess
Printed by McPhersons Printing Group